I don’t know about you, but every year I struggle to decide where the line is on who I give presents to. I’m not a true gift giver where I just want to give gifts, but I do love giving something special or clever that I know people will appreciate. So here is my list of things I’ve given in the past when it’s just not in my budget to buy big things for everyone.
Free(ish)
Invite to dinner or offer a free meal
This will depend on the relationship, but planning to invite people over for a nice meal could be a great gift. You already have to cook for yourself, so depending on the meal, it might get up to $5. Same if you make yourself some freezer meals and just double up to give one as a gift.
Offer Babysitting
This will only cost you if you need to feed the kids or if you want to take them somewhere that costs money. But a night of free babysitting is like giving gold to a parent.
Try DIYing with stuff you have at home
I have so many things that I’ve bought in bulk for other projects around my house that I usually have at least a handful of things to make gifts without spending money. Evaluate what you have and how you could give a gift with some of it.
Grow a plant
If you have a plant and a green thumb, you could propagate off of what you already have. Then, you just need a small container and some dirt to pass the plant along.
$5 or Less
DIY Bath Salts and Sugar Scrub
All you need is some scented Epson salts and a jar. If you have a lot of people, you can check out the jars below. If you only need one or two, check out a dollar tree or repurpose some mason jars you aren’t using. To make a sugar scrub, you just need white or brown sugar, some vanilla, and melted coconut or olive oil until you get the consistency you like.
30 – 7oz jars 26.99
9 – 10oz jars 22.99
40 – 6oz Jars 32.99
Spa Kit
This kind of goes with bath salts, but you can easily go to Dollar Tree and get four spa/self-care items for $5, and ours had the jade rollers and scrapers.
Face Masks | 17 for 15.99
Shower Steamers | 18 for 14.39
Lip Balm | 24 for 23.99
Warm Drink
If you know someone who likes a warm drink, you can put some fun drinks together. Here are some tea, coffee, or hot chocolate options. You can get fancy with an extra like honey sticks or a new mug. Unless you need it delivered to your door, TJ Max is a great place to get random mugs, and chocolate stirs for under $5. Honestly, you could probably look through their food sections and get a decent hull to put together for multiple under $5 gifts. But if you want to come to your choice, here are a couple of options.
Hot Chocolate Packets | 34 for 23.99
Tea and Honey sticks | 48 for 18.99
Single Serve Coffee | 20 for 20.89
Frosty Key Tags
For $3, you can give people free frosties for the year and support foster care. You can buy these at most Wendy’s, but you can also buy them online if you want a bunch. 90% of the proceeds support Wendy’s Wonderful Kids, which works to connect kids in foster care who are permanent wards of the state with adoptive homes.
Smell Goods
There are lots of ways to give a fresh scent. You can go with candles, or some cheaper options are diffusers or incense. A diffuser just needs a couple of sticks in a jar with some essential oils. Again, I’ve found some good prices on oils at TJ Max. For incense and candles, check out Dollar Tree; I’ve seen some good options. I would also check your area and see if there are any candle warehouses around. We have one in our area, and they have the best options for jars and candles and tart warmers and all that kind of stuff. We used to live around the corner from them, and years later, we are still using the candles; it was that cheap.
Diffuser Sticks | 120 for 5.86
Essential Oils | 20 for 17.99
Incense Holder | 5 for 6.99
Incense Sticks | 7 boxes for 6.19
Signature Dessert
If you don’t have a signature dessert, there is no time like the present to master one. This will be something you make the best, and everyone is excited that it’s Christmas and they know you because that’s what you give. I’ve done peppermint bark and Oreo truffles. They are both easy and nothing special, but because you make them and other people don’t have to, they love them.
Peppermint bark:
Twelve regular-sized candy canes. Unwrap and toss in a bag, bet them up till there are only tiny pieces ( the more powder, the better). Melt a brick of white almond bark melting candy (put it in a metal bowl in the lowest setting of your oven). When it’s melted fully, toss in the peppermint, blend fully, and pour on a cookie sheet. If it’s cold enough, put it in your garage until it is hard and breaks into little pieces.
Oreo truffles:
Put 36 Oreos with the cream in a food processor with one brick of cream cheese until smooth. Refrigerate till chilled. Melt chocolate or chocolate almond bark and scoop 1-inch balls, roll them smooth, and dip them in chocolate. Set on parchment paper to cool. If you feel fancy, drizzle white chocolate on top.
Home Decor
Get them some posters that will bring joy and inspiration to their space. I’ve got some download and print options in the store. Etsy has a bunch, too, depending on what you’re looking for, but a buy-once print as many as you want makes it cheap. Some Etsy shops might have some guides on whether you can print as many as you want to give away or if you need to buy more usage rights, so just check that. Mine are printed as many as you want, as long as you aren’t selling them. If you want a frame for the poster, here are a couple of options that I like because they fit multiple options, but again, Dollar Tree depends on the size you’re going for.
Frame | 1 for 4.99
4×6 Frame | 12 for 12.59
Stay Weird,
